


Smoking Ain't Allowed In School

by QueenOfNewOrleans22



Category: Mötley Crüe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Gore, Nightmares, Slow To Update, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:00:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26446729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenOfNewOrleans22/pseuds/QueenOfNewOrleans22
Summary: It was a conformity school, but it was more like a prison.*Story set in Smokin' In The Boys Room alternate universe.*
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 9





	1. At First

It was a conformity school. 

Vince knew that much. 

The walls were rotted, peeling away to reveal the wood beneath. A thick, strong smell of decay seemed to permeate from these walls, and it should've been a warning, but when did people ever listen to those warnings? 

Days and weeks, months and years, all seemed to blend together into some kind of perpetual war. There were no clocks. There were no windows. It was like they were stuck in time, unable to break out, stuck to wander the halls forever. 

Perhaps it would've been an incentive to give up. 

It wasn't. 

If anything, it made Vince even more determined to either get out or die trying. He was not a quitter, and wasn't just going to lay down while those freaks tore away his personality, opinions, talents, hopes and dreams like they did to everybody else. 

People, now nothing more than robots. The faculty, who seemed to have no other reason for living besides to catch and conform the unruly kids who had gotten trapped here. 

It was like the plot of a bad sci-fi movie, except this was real life, and nothing was going to turn out right. 

Or, at least, that's what Nikki said.

But Vince didn't like to take his word for things because Nikki was notoriously pessimistic and liked to point out the bad when, really, life here didn't suck as much as claimed. 

Sure, there was no running water. Sure, they didn't actually have beds. Sure, they were constantly in danger of either being killed or just, sort of, sucked away like they never existed. 

But at least they weren't alone. 

There was Tommy, who was like that bright light at the end of a tunnel, as obnoxious as he was. Then Mick, who had been there longer than anybody but still seemed so hopeful. Vince was just happy that they had managed to create some sort of unity, a group, in all of this hell. 

Vince, Sixx, Mick, and Tom. 

They all lived in an abandoned room just out of sight, sleeping on old costs, eating moldy bread and playing cards. It was hardly a palace, but it was better than nothing. The door had been boarded off by somebody, maybe one of those faculty freaks, in the past, but there was a small opening at the bottom that they were all skinny enough to slide through. 

Nobody seemed to know that the four lived there, which was an infinitely good thing, because there didn't seem to be anywhere else to run. 

"Unless you wanna try to make it to the roof." Nikki said, his voice a low mutter in the darkness. The lights had been shut off to the whole school, which seemed to be the cue for everybody to go to sleep and shut up. "Then you can run straight off the edge." 

Vince glared at him. "Stop saying things like that." He replied, but there was no use in saying anything at all in response. It was Nikki's way of coping, and who was he to squash that remainder of sanity? 

Tommy looked up, frowning. "Well, we wanna live to see the outside world, Nik." He said in that oddly innocent tone that seemed to be default for him. "Otherwise, what's the point?" He looked between everybody, as if for agreement. 

Mick rolled over. "I'm trying to sleep." He hissed. "So, _be quiet."_

Originally, there had been more people left to survive in the thresholds of society, more people who had avoided the unmentionable. But they'd been caught, and more nothing more than drones. Blank eyes, neutral faces, no thoughts besides the ones implanted in their minds.

They got around, mainly, through the ceilings, but that wasn't the safest thing to do because of how weak the boards were, rotten from leaking water and age, so they were forced to dance through the shadows of the halls, weary of getting seen, caught, taken into a classroom and subjected to the mask. 

Sometimes, they left the safety of their room to wreak havoc. That wasn't safe, either, but it provides a sort of sanity in a world where nothing made sense. But other times, it was because they needed food. 

The cafeteria was at the furthest end of the school. Usually, only two of the group went to avoid rousing suspicion. But sometimes, all four went because it was easier to break up and be distractions, or just to get more food. 

"Hurry, hurry, hurry." Tommy urged, his voice becoming higher pitched in his panic.

Vince, who was digging through the trash with increasing disgust, rolled his eyes. "Calm down." He commanded, but his heart lurched unpleasantly when footsteps echoed, and a large shadow appeared on the wall. 

_'Oh, fuck.'_ Vince thought, frozen in place as he stated at the two looming behemoths who had appeared in the hallways. Their exit was successfully blocked, and the only other way out was through a vent that was too high above the ground for them to get to it quickly. 

Tommy bit his bottom lip. "What do we do? _What do we do?"_ He asked, looking for the guidance that usually came during these moments. 

But all Vince could do was shrug, and back away as the students approached. 

"Hey, dumbfucks!" Nikki called out, skidding into view and barely catching himself in the wall. "Come get me!" He crowed, lips twisted in that unpleasant leer of his. 

Mick was further down the hall. "C'mon!" He yelled, waving his arms to be seen. "You want me? Huh?" 

Without complaint, the students followed them, easily forgetting about the two others in the cafeteria, standing, frozen, like deers in headlights. 

Vince exhaled in relief as he stuffed the food into a backpack and tossed it to Tommy, just before sprinting down the hall, eager to get back to safety. 

Day-to-day life couldn't be predicted. Sometimes, the hallways twisted and changed, and the ball that lead to a classroom would lead to a bathroom just a few hours later. But their hideaway was always there, a cordoned-off section that has never failed them. Not yet.

It was a small room, cluttered with meaningless objects. Coats that were used for bedding that smelt of mildew. Tally marks scratched into the wall, a useless attempt at counting when it all became too much. A small picture hung from the walls, held by a single tack. The people in the picture were unfamiliar, and the picture had been there since before their group had been dropped into this school of horrors. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the picture had belonged to the previous occupants, possibly one of the students. 

Nobody took the picture down- perhaps out of respect. 

Their actual belongings were few and far between. All they really had was the clothing on their backs, and that wasn't saying much. 

"Go fish." Tommy said confidently, slapping a card down on the ground. He was grinning widely, and clearly expected to win. 

Nikki frowned, "We're playing poker." 

The faculty was the worst thing about the school. The students could be managed, and the living situation could be tolerated, but the teachers, the principal, were unbearable. 

**The Principle** was a constant dark spot in the school, seeming to be everywhere and nowhere at once. He and his puppet, rounding the halls when you least expected it. 

Vince loathed the man. Every day, he put the pieces together of all the things that **The Principle** had done, and felt sick. The kids who didn't conform got killed, and it didn't take long to figure out where they went. There didn't seem to be an outside, and so the bodies, well...

The ones that survived were now merely dead shells. They walked and talked, they breathed and moved, but they weren't alive, not really. It was creepy, and depressing, to watch them. 

They were robots. 

Nowadays, there were only four left, and maybe more would join them someday, but for now, Vince was content with the friends he'd made along this demented journey. 

Sometimes, Mick would get dressed, and pull his shirt on a second top late to hide his scars. 

Sometimes, Tommy would drift off, his eyes wide but gaze fixed onto the wall, silent. 

Sometimes, Nikki woke up, screaming, gasping for breath and begging for them not to hurt him. 

Sometimes, Vince wondered about that roof, and if it would prove an escape. 

But, for now, they would survive. In this crazy world, there was nothing else to do. 

Of course, that was before they found the mirrors. 


	2. Mirror, Mirror

It was somewhere between day and night. 

Mick couldn't really tell, but that was to the best of his assumptions. 

There weren't any windows, but the lights seemed to be turned on and off according to schedule, so Mick assumed that the bleary light that was seeping in through the cracks on the wood that covered the door was supposed to signify dawn. 

He shifted uncomfortably on his makeshift bed. The need to use the bathroom was stronger than ever, but nobody else has awakened yet, and nobody could leave the hideaway without somebody else accompanying them. At the same time, waking up the others could prove futile. They were stubborn and determined in escaping this hellish world, if only for awhile, while they slept. 

In the presumed early morning hours, Mick liked to think. Whenever the others were awake, it was too chaotic to do much deep thinking, but while they were asleep, Mick was content to wonder about their lives, the possibility of escaping, and just the general questions about where they were. 

For several years, Mick had been trapped in the school, alone. He had aged during those years, growing from a boy into a man, but yet, the faculty still chased him. 

Those years had been lonely, and during the times when he was able to escape and have a moment of peace, it was boring. Mick loved being alone, but not in a place where being alone meant truly having nobody else. It had been a terrifying time in his life. There were points in time where Mick was able to recover a razor, or a knife, or, if he was truly desperate, looked at the coats and wondered if they could hold his weight. Suicide was dark and whatever lay beyond held more questions than answers, but even that would be better than going through life like that. 

Mick had been very close to ending his life after countless years alone.

At least ten, maybe twelve, years had gone by, and Mick was desperate for some sort of ending to this nightmare. Of course, it was during that time that Nikki appeared, too, and Mick could be cruel, but he wasn't about to let him wander the halls alone, too. 

Then the other two came along, and while they were still trapped, at least nobody was lonely. 

Several times, their options had come into play- They could give up entirely and just them themselves be brainwashrd, which wasn't even considered. They could commit suicide and just end it all, which was enticing, but the impossibilities were far too great. They could try and murder the faculty, which was rather hilarious in hindsight, all things considered, or they could just..survive.

Which was what they chose. 

If there was an escape, they would find it. But in the meantime, they would just avoid the monsters that roamed the halls. 

The urge became too great, and there was no just suffering in silence anymore. Mick grit his teeth and hit Vince in the shoulder, successfully awakening the blonde so quick that it was like a bomb had gone off.

Vince startled awake, his eyes wide, immediately looking around the room for threats, but the only other person who wasn't still asleep was the one who was staring expectantly at him, patiently waiting. "What the fuck, man?" Vince said, sounding offended, the one that wasn't propping himself up splayed in confusion. 

"I have to piss." Mick said, and just in case Vince didn't hear him, motioned to his groin, and then toward the door. 

There was a short stretch of silence that followed Mick's proclamation.

Vince rolled his eyes. "Classy." He muttered, pushing himself into a sitting position. "Couldn't you wait?" 

"I've been holding it for thirty minutes." Mick replied, already standing so he could walk across the room. 

Mick nudged Tommy in the ribs with his shoe lightly. "Wake up." Mick urged as the younger man blinked blearily, looking like he was still asleep, only with his eyes open. 

"Wha'...?" Tommy mumbled, squinting in the early morning light. 

Nikki was already awake and pulling on his boots. 

After a few moments of gathering themselves, the group finally managed to slide through the bottom of the door. The hallways were empty, though Mick had no idea where the faculty of students went during the night. Whether or not they slept was a mystery to behold.

One of these days, they would find out, Mick was sure, but for now, all that mattered was getting to the bathroom. 

Cockroaches skittered by, their fat, dark bodies darting past on the ground. A moth was fluttering around a lonely lightbulb. There was a frigid draft, and Mick found himself pulling his jacket closer around his torso as they moved stealthily through the halls in a straight line. 

Mick hoped that the hallways hadn't switched again. There only appeared to be one bathroom, and it was hard to find it even when the hallways were normal. 

"It's freezing." Tommy complained, his voice hushed from where he was pushed to the back of the group. 

Vince shushed him as he carefully peered around the corner, where the light was a little more plentiful. He gave the thumbs-up and they rounded the corner, debris from the walls crunching under their boots. 

It seemed to take longer than usual to get to the bathrooms. Of course, this could be due to a number of reasons that had nothing to do with the hallways switching around. It was hard to navigate the school in general, with the lack of a map and the low, dim lighting. Not to mention, there was hardly any time to memorialize when you were running for your lives. 

But they did eventually get there after what seemed like hours of creeping through the hallways. In all likelihood, it only took about thirty minutes. 

The bathroom was just like every other room in the godforsaken building- small, dirty, and smelling strongly of mildew, not to mention the numerous rats that inhabited the building liked to gather in there because of how infrequently it was used. That, and the cafeteria were hotspots for the small, but fat creatures to roam. 

"You two, stand watch first." Mick instructed Vince and Nikki, the latter of whom just nodded, while the former made a disgruntled mutter that was drowned out by the sound of the pipes doing their daily creaking.

Vince looked up at the ceiling with distaste. "Somehow, that's the least annoying thing about living here." He said.

Nikki shrugged. 

They propped the door open with a brick situated between the door and the wall. The door squeaked too loudly to be opened repeatedly throughout the time that they were in there, and so the gap provided just enough room for all four of them to slip by without disrupting the door. Though, every time they returned, the brick had returned to it's usual place. 

What everybody was most nervous about were the cameras. 

**The Principle** always seemed to be watching. He, and his blank-eyed puppet, could be counted on to always be in their office, watching the cameras, keeping a sharp eye on the students, the staff, and the four that they'd never managed to catch. 

But that was why the picture came in handy. 

Mick had found a camera back during the time when he was alone. It barely worked, and a week later, he had to abandon it somewhere in the E-wing of the school during a chase, but during that time that he had it, several pictures of empty rooms had been taken. 

One of those pictures had been that of the empty bathroom. 

If they were fast enough, then one of them could always put the picture over the camera, which was the only one in school that was low enough for any of them to reach. 

Mick dug into his jacket and handed the picture to Tommy, who carefully stepped onto a few boxes, hopelessly aware that if he fell, then the noise would be heard throughout the school, alerting everybody to their presence. 

Another problem was the door. 

The bathroom was connected to a small broom closet, and in that closet was a sort of door. It had a barred window, and allowed them to see into the next room over- which was a classroom. Noise traveled, and that teacher seemed to be able to hear everything. Luckily, she didn't seem to be in that classroom. Only a few students, wearing those torturous masks, remained in their seats, their eyes practically glued to the screens in front of them. 

Tommy managed to put the picture over the camera, wedging it in between the barbed wire that covered the top, bottom and sides of the camera. He gave a thumbs-up to Mick, who nodded. 

_Those poor kids._

But were they the unlucky ones? Sure, their individual though process was gone, but at least every day for them wasn't a desperate fight against the faculty members. 

They both quickly did their business, using the stalls to create some sort of remnant for privacy. 

Tommy finished first, and started to wash his hands under the bitterly cold water. He could hear Vince say something, but his tone was calm, under control, and so Tommy didn't bother checking what the matter was. 

He looked up at the mirror. 

And froze. 

The water poured over his hands, splashing out onto the ground in little droplets. 

Fear, wonder, confusion crept up his spine, forcing him to stare at the mirror with a sort of awed fright that was offset by the millions of thoughts that were racing through his head, questions that chased each other around like dogs. 

The mirror was moving, not like a reflection, but the _actual mirror._ It was wavering, like clear, reflective sea waves on the beach. Tommy blinked at it, trying to gather his bearings, and then looked behind him at the stalls.

Mick still wasn't out, yet. 

It wasn't the weirdest thing he'd ever seen, but Tommy hated it, and feared it, nonetheless. He couldn't force his legs to move and take him away from the mirror, and what might've been a trick on behalf of the faculty, but his hands finally regained control. 

Vince said something again. 

This time, there was a little urgency, but Tommy was more concerned about the mirror, and what the hell it was doing. He raised his hand, slowly and carefully, barely breathing. 

With great trepidation, and maybe a little curiosity, Tommy stuck his finger through the mirror. 

And it allowed him to. 

It felt like it was molding around his finger, sharp glass now turned to a thick sort of syrup-like substance. That was the only thing that could be used to describe the feeling, and Tommy, who never stopped talking, now didn't have anything to say. 

"What the fuck?" Mick said, appearing like a ghost behind Tommy's shoulder, grabbing and pulling the younger man's arm away so fast that it was merely a blur. There was alarm and shock in his dark eyes, two emotions that seemed to make it all worse, adding to Tommy's similar emotions. 

Mick opened his mouth, maybe about to repeat his earlier statement or to chastise Tommy, but then, two figures appeared in the room and the door was closed. Vince was looking at them with wide eyes, his finger pressed to his lips, telling them to be quiet, be quiet, _be quiet._

Nikki locked the door and backed away quickly afterwards, but they all knew it wouldn't do much.

"They came out of nowhere." Vince hissed, panic and fear lacing his tone. Nikki nodded in agreement. 

But it didn't matter, because they were trapped. 

No more than a second later, somebody knocked on the door. 


	3. Rules Of Survival

They were trapped. 

Or not. 

Tommy knew this school like the back of his hand, well enough to know that there were plenty of secret passageways, like an old castle disguised as a crumbling school. And so, as whoever was behind the door knocked again, and again, and again, until the sound of knuckles hitting steel seemed to reverberate from within. It sounded like there was more than two people out there, but nothing could be for sure. 

"Fuck, fuck, _fuck."_ Vince said through gritted teeth, his eyes wandering over the walls, desperate for a way out. The faculty or students or whoever wouldn't stop until the door was knocked down, and everybody knew it. There was nowhere to hide- just a few stalls that provided little cover. Vince turned around in a full circle, looking for someplace, anyplace, that could hide them. "What do we do?" He asked, maybe to himself, maybe to- "Mick?" 

When they were in doubt, each one of them looked to Mick for help because he was the oldest and had been there for the longest. He knew the ins and outs of the school better than anybody else, and it showed in the way that he moved foward, slow and slight, and felt along the walls, knowing that there was some sort of escape that lay in plain sight. The walls were thin enough, and weak enough, that if they were really, truly desperate, they could probably break their way through. 

But whatever lay on the other side was a mystery to behold. 

"Feel along the walls." Mick instructed, reaching into cracks and crevices with a trained experience that seemed almost natural. "Any weakness, use it to your advantage, yeah?" He said, cringing as the knocks, if possible, grew in frequency. 

Nikki frowned, but did as told. "Do you think that they could break through the walls?" He asked. 

The question was one for the record books, and the answer was a firm and resounding- _yes._

A long moment of desperately pushing, prodding, and pulling ensued, primal fear beginning to take hold. None of them wanted to get caught, to get their minds wiped, to be forced to sit, day-in-and-day-out, and watch a screen, unable to even think anything other than the thoughts programmed into their brains. 

In the end, did it even matter? Were they just delaying the inevitable?

Vince stumbled as one of the walls caved in, sending him to the floor in a cloud of dust and bricks that went as easily as wet paper. He sputtered and coughed, shoving himself up and looking through squinted eyes around the room. It was completely bare of any and all furniture, a darkened place in a dark school, but it was better than nothing. 

_Sure as hell better than whatever those freaks have in store, anyways._

"Oh, thank god." Nikki sighed when he heard the noise, whirling around and making his way toward the back of the bathroom, which was still mostly engulfed in a cloud of dust, but it wasn't much different than how the bathroom usually was. 

Tommy peered up from where he was inspecting a small hole in the wall. "He made it through?" 

With his usually blonde hair covered in grey, Vince emerged from the mess that had been made, still coughing. "What do you think?" He muttered, but there was a lightness to his tone that suggested no anger, just relief, pure and simple. 

Nikki snickered when he looked at Vince, who glared in return. 

It took him a minute, but Mick appeared, inspecting the wall and chipped bricks that'd been used to construct some semblance of the wall before being covered by what seemed to be a thin layer of wallpaper and left to rot. "Let's go." He said, not sure whether or not to be happy or worried or both that the knocks had fallen silent.

There was no time to think about whether or not the teachers, the students, whoever had been behind the door, had heard the crash and put two and two together. 

There was no time to think about anything but escape. 

They all traversed over the mess, tripping over the bricks, sneezing as the dust floated in the air. Tommy was the first to make it over to the room, and he looked around at the same old design - grey, with tarps nailed to the walls. Out of habit, Tommy looked behind one of the tarps, hoping to see a window, but it was nothing more than just another wall. 

Mick, in turn, looked at the door, which was large and steel. There was no way of telling who was behind that door, and whether or not it was a mistake to even be in the same room as it, but it was their only option, seeing as how the people that Vince and Nikki had seen were probably just playing quiet to try and trick them. 

It wouldn't be the first time, and it likely wouldn't be the last. 

Mick turned around, and pressed his finger to his lips, silencing the other three who were watching with weary eyes, gazing at the door like it was both heaven and hell, an escape or a prison, whether or not pain would remain behind that door, or a light. 

"I'm going to open the door." Mick whispered, already having formulated a rough plan. It wasn't anything spectacular, but it was the only thing that they had. "Chances are, if anybody's out there, then they're probably still-" Mick pointed back toward the bathroom. "- back there, so we're going to make a run for it." 

Nobody dared bring up the possibility of them waiting just outside the door, hardly wanting to imagine **The Principle** and his little puppet, standing right there with a grin that stretched wide, reaching out and grabbing them with long, slender fingers and dragging them towards his office. 

Vince stood there with baited breath as Mick slowly opened the door, carefully wedging himself between the wall and door as he glanced either way through the dark hallway. It was hard to tell, because it seemed like the lights had been significantly dimmed in the last ten minutes, which Mick had no doubt was on purpose. This made his heart race with anxiety, but there were no shadows standing in the faint light, no hands reaching out to grab him. 

It was almost amusing, only Mick didn't feel no humor, only the chill creeping up his spine. He looked left, right, above, below, everywhere that could be searched, but the hallways were suspiciously deserted of anybody and everybody. It should've been a good sign, but it only heightened awareness about every little sound, whether it be a bang or a whisper. 

Mick, unwilling to look back and possibly risk an attack, reached behind himself and curled a finger, motioning for the first person to follow him out into the hallway. It took a moment, presumably because nobody wanted to be the first ones caught, but eventually, after Mick had shifted his stance out into the actual hallway, Nikki joined him. 

Then Tommy appeared. 

And, finally, Vince joined them a moment later. 

Mick looked at each once of them, and then closed the door as gently as anybody could, grimacing at the small _click_ as it closed. Everybody was looking around, anxious and worried that they'd just signed their figurative death sentence, but it appeared like whoever had been outside the door had left. Nobody felt like endangering their safety by talking, so the slow walk back to their hideout was in silence, except for the occasional sound of plaster crunching underneath their boots and their own breathing. 

At one point, coughing could be heard. 

Mick glanced behind himself to try and shut up whoever was making the noise, but then his heart dropped at the sight of closed mouths from the boys. But whoever was coughing didn't seem to have noticed them, and moved away shortly afterwards. Mick couldn't tell where the sound was coming from, but it was very close, and he hardly dared to breathe during the rest of the walk. 

But then they managed to slide underneath the small gap in the lowest board, and return to their messy, dirty home, filled with coats that smelt like mildew and a thick sense of perpetual dread. 

It was hardly a home, but it was _theirs._

Exhausted, Mick sat down his heart still pounding from the earlier mess they're had to deal with. Vince also fell to the ground, his arms propped up on his knees. Nikki was still on edge, and remained standing.

"Well, wasn't that exciting?" Vince said, brushing strands of blonde hair away from his face. "You were just saying a few weeks ago that life here was boring." 

Mick shook his head. "No, Tommy said that." He replied. 

Vince frowned, and looked like he was about to argue that point for a moment, but then he turned to where the youngest of their group was trying to break a knot in his hair. "Didn't you say that life here was boring, Tom?" He said. 

Tommy stuck up his middle finger. 


End file.
